Fig. 3

Effect of the age at first forage consumption on BW. Asterisks (*) indicate differences (P ≤ 0.05) between groups (d 56: EHAY < LHAY; d 196: EHAY < CON and LHAY). Daggers (†) indicate trends (0.05 ≤ P ≤ 0.1) between groups (at d 42: EHAY < LHAY). Error bars represent ± SE. CON = Calves were fed starter concentrate without forage from d 1 to 84, HAY = Starter concentrate and forage were fed to calves as a free choice way from d 1 to 84, EHAY = calves began to consume forage at the earliest (from d 4 to 6), MHAY = calves began to consume the forage from d 7 to 9, LHAY = calves began to consume forage at latest (from d 10 to 15)